


Forming A Family

by avatays



Series: Eruri DILFs [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Armin Arlert & Erwin Smith Are Related, Character's Name Spelled as Farlan, Dad Erwin Smith, Dad Levi Ackerman, Family, Fatherhood, Found Family, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mikasa Ackerman & Eren Yeager Are Siblings, Single Parents, They/Them Pronouns for Hange Zoë, happened before the story begins, levi acting as eren’s dad, levi acting as mikasa’s dad, some mentioned death - Freeform, those weren't tags but they should be because they're dilfs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29710563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatays/pseuds/avatays
Summary: “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”“Levi—”“No. Absolutely not.”“Come on!” Hange pleaded, their eyes big as they stared at their friend. “We’re out of options.”“And just why the hell,” Levi hissed. “Would you decide thatI’ma good choice to take care of a couple of brats?”———The story in which Levi runs a coffee shop and gets stuck caring for two children who just lost their parents, and against his own will, he grows attached to them.Somewhere along the line, he meets a single father with a son his kids adore, who brings with him the ability to create something more.OR:The one where Levi adopts Eren and Mikasa, and Armin is Erwin’s son.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Erwin Smith
Series: Eruri DILFs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184303
Comments: 15
Kudos: 203





	Forming A Family

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first AoT/SnK story, but honestly i have erwin/levi brainrot and i'm a slut for single father au's so here you go.  
> i was inspired to write this by tiktok user @briannaormond/ig user @brianna.ormond with all the adorable videos they did of levi as eren’s dad!!  
> ok love you, please enjoy,  
> tay  
> ps: this is going to be a series so stay tuned 👀

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“Levi—”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Come on!” Hange pleaded, their eyes big as they stared at their friend. “We’re out of options.”

“And just why the hell,” Levi hissed. “Would you decide that _I’m_ a good choice to take care of a couple of brats?”

“Levi, they don’t have anywhere to go. With the hurricane that swept through here, a lot of families are displaced and so many kids have lost parents that we can’t house them all in a way that can give them proper attention, especially for infants!” Hange nearly shouted. They took a breath, staring at the ceiling of the coffee shop for a moment.

Levi fidgeted behind the counter, but stared at them. Hange was his best friend, but they had too much of a need to take care of everyone, and that included himself. When they went into social work, Levi was proud of them — really, it’s a respectable job that helps many, he knew that. He should have expected to get pulled into it, if he was honest with himself; he was guilty by association. 

“It won’t be forever,” Hange continued. “But all the foster homes that we could put them in are full, none of them can take on two more infants, and we don’t want to separate them and traumatize them even further.”

Levi frowned. Hurricane Maria had devastated the coast, and it had taken a toll on its population more than any natural disaster in the past century. He knew where Hange was coming from, really, and he wanted to help... but...

“You know I’m not good with kids, shitty glasses.”

“That’s not true, kids love you,” Hange corrected. “You just don’t like _them_ much.”

Levi groaned loudly, and Hange smiled. They sensed they had weakened his resolve.

“You have the perfect situation to take them in. You can keep the kids here at the shop when you need to work, until I can find a more permanent home for them.”

“This is a coffee shop, not a day care.”

“But you’ve got a half dozen workers here, I know Petra would love to help take care of them when she comes in. Eld probably would too, he’s got a lot of siblings.”

“Is that Hange?”

They turned to see Isabel smiling at the two widely. She had been closing up until then, likely putting all the dirty cups through the washer, and must not have heard Hange until she came to the front room to count the register. 

“What’s all this about? You guys arguing again?” She asked as she took off her apron.

“No,” Hange answered just as Levi said, “Yes.”

“I’ve got a couple of kids who need a place to stay for a while, I thought Levi could help,” Hange informed her quickly. Levi glared at them, but Hange smiled. They knew Isabel was a soft spot for him, if anyone could convince Levi to take in some kids, it was her.

Isabel clasped her hands together and gasped. “Kids! Oh, you should do it! You said yes, right?”

Levi avoided her eyes. “Look, you’re too young to understand this, but taking in some brats is a big commitment—”

“I’m sixteen, Levi, I’m not a child,” Isabel said, crossing her arms with a pout. “I babysit all the time, I can help! I’m here after school almost every day anyway. And you know Farlan will too, his sister just had a kid and he fancies himself a baby whisperer now.” 

Levi gave a little “ _Tch_. Please.”

She pressed on. “I’ll babysit whenever you need a break, promise! I’ll keep an eye on them when they’re here, how hard could it be with all of us?”

Levi sighed. He stared up at the ceiling, then closed his eyes. 

_Dammit_. 

“Where are the brats now?” He finally let out in an exasperated tone. 

Hange cheered, leaning over the counter to hug him but he pushed them off quickly. 

“Moblit’s with them in the car, I’ll be right back!”

Levi’s jaw dropped as Hange ran out of the shop. “That sneak!” He hissed. “They brought them along? How’d they even know I’d agree?!”

Isabel smiled. “Because you’re a softie.”

“I am _not_!” He countered, his head whipping towards her to fix her with a glare. 

“Mhm, sure. And where did I spend most of my time during my parents’ custody battle last year? Was it at Farlan’s place?”

“No, it was your sister’s.” 

“Okay, fine, but the second largest amount of time I spent was at _yours_.” She nudged him. “You like kids, and you like taking care of people. You can’t fool me.” The door opened again, and Isabel tacked on, “Besides, this is temporary, you can do this.”

Levi huffed and turned away from her. 

Moblit and Hange were back, each carrying a car seat, and Moblit with a bag slung over his shoulder. They placed the car seats on the counter by the register, and Levi’s eyes finally rested on the sight of two small figures in front of him.

Yep. Those were babies alright. 

Isabel cooed at the babies, gently touching the tummy of the one closest to her, who squealed and giggled at her. 

“This is Eren,” Hange said, placing a hand on the car seat of the baby Isabel was talking to. “And this is Mikasa.” They gestured to the other baby, who was quiet and staring at Levi far too intelligently for his liking. She almost looked to be assessing him.

“From what we gathered, they’re cousins. Eren is eleven months old, Mikasa is thirteen months. Mikasa’s parents died in an armed robbery gone wrong soon after her birth, and Eren’s parents were next of kin, so they took her in.” Hange touched the dark hair on Mikasa’s head softly, making Mikasa look up at them curiously. “Poor girl.” Hange reached into their purse and placed a file in front of Levi. “Here’s all their information and medical records. We’re currently looking for Eren’s next of kin. Mikasa doesn’t seem to have any other family, but we’re assuming —or rather, _hoping—_ that whoever we find for Eren will take her in as well. They’re very attached to each other, they were raised as siblings after all. I’d hate for them to be separated.”

Hange gestured to the baby bag. “We’ve got clothes, diapers, food, toys, it should all last you for a few weeks. When you need more, you tell me and I’ll get it, the agency is paying. Eren seems to have already been weaned off of milk early on, so you won’t need to worry about that. He hasn’t started talking yet, just babbling, but I wouldn’t be concerned about that for a few more months if he still hasn’t spoken.”

“Wait, I’m gonna have them for _months_?”

“Mikasa knows a few words, but she’s pretty quiet,” Hange blazed on, ignoring Levi’s squawking. “She can walk on her own, Eren can take a few steps, but watch him closely there; he tries to keep up with Mikasa sometimes but he isn’t very good at it yet, so he’ll fall and hit something if you don’t keep an eye on him. Let’s see...” They turned to Moblit. “What else?”

“The crib,” he answered easily. 

“Right!” Hange declared. “We have a crib for them in the car, if you let us we’ll go upstairs right now and assemble it in the guest room. They sleep in the same crib; we tried to separate them at first and Mikasa screamed something fierce. It’s best to just keep them together. They don’t understand why their family isn’t with them, so to separate them at night would just traumatize them more.”

Levi heard baby babble and turned to see Eren making grabby hands at Isabel, big eyes begging to be held. Isabel responded softly and held him close. He touched her red pigtails and smiled at her, saying nonsense, then pointed at Levi. 

“What?” Levi deadpanned. “What is it, brat?”

Isabel took a step closer as Eren reached out for Levi. Eren then touched Levi’s nose and squealed, clapping his hands together. 

Levi turned to Hange. “I can’t believe I agreed to this.”

“Come on, he likes you! Just hold them, you’ll be fine. Eren loves everyone.” Hange gestured for their partner to follow them. “We’ll just let ourselves upstairs to assemble the bed!”

Levi sighed as Hange and Moblit left and came back carrying a box up the stairs to the apartment above the shop. He supposed this was his life now. 

“Mikasa looks like she wants up,” Isabel said, Eren still touching her hair. 

Levi looked down at the girl. She had one hand sticking out to him, her other hand in her mouth. He huffed but picked her up. She leaned back to stare at him again, her brown eyes looking him over like he could be a threat. 

“Why do you keep looking at me like that, brat?” He scolded. “It’s weird.”

Mikasa tilted her head, like she could understand him. She then rested her head in the crook of his neck, and sucked on her fingers, staring around the store. Her gaze occasionally returned to him, but she seemed content to rest in his arms and examine her surroundings. 

Okay. He’ll admit it. They’re cute.

“All done!” Hange’s voice declared.

Levi startled. How long had he just been standing there?

Hange cooed as they got closer to the kids, Levi placing Mikasa carefully back in her seat. They got close to Eren, who babbled and pressed his mouth to their cheek in a mimicry of a kiss, Hange letting out a soft noise that made it clear they were already attached to the children. They kissed Mikasa’s forehead, saying, “Can you say Hange? Hahn-gee?”

“Ha-ha?” Mikasa slowly said. 

“That’s pretty close! You’re so smart,” Hange told the baby girl, kissing her forehead again. “I’ll be back to see you soon, okay? Promise.” They turned to Levi. “We just fed them, so they should be good for a while, feel free to call if you have any questions, doesn’t matter how late it is.”

Hange looked close to tears as they stepped closer to the door. Eren was snuggled into Isabel’s side looking sleepy, but he raised a hand and flopped it up and down, saying, “Ba-ba.”

“Bye-bye,” Hange choked out. They blew a kiss to the babies as Moblit grabbed their hand, and the two left. 

Eren’s face screwed up as his eyes followed Hange as they left. “Ba-ba?” He said again, looking at Isabel. 

“Hange had to go, but they’ll be back to visit,” Isabel cooed. 

That seemed to be good enough for Eren, as he instead reached out a chubby hand towards Levi again. Levi assumed he would just touch his face again (which made him cringe — who _knows_ where those gremlin hands have been?) but instead Eren leaned over, trying to get Levi to hold him. Levi rolled his eyes but accepted the child into his arms. 

Eren stared at him with those bright green eyes. He hid his face in Levi’s neck, a little hand touching his ebony hair. 

What was with this kid and his fixation with touching hair?

Still. He wasn’t pulling at least, and Levi was chalking that up to an absolute win.

“Do you want me to stay?” Isabel asked. “I can help until they fall asleep.”

“Would you?” Levi said, letting out a small sigh of relief. “Just for a bit. I’m sure you have a lot to do for school.”

“They seem pretty tired, I’m sure I won’t be here much longer.” Isabel picked up Mikasa in her car seat, nodding upstairs. “Let’s see if they like their crib.”

———

Isabel was right, they had fallen asleep as soon as they had been put to bed, Mikasa falling asleep in her car seat and not rustling even as Levi migrated her to the crib. 

Levi wasn’t sure what time babies usually go to sleep, but apparently eight-thirty was pretty close to it. He had fidgeted with the baby monitor for a while after that. It was so quiet, he assumed it might be broken. 

That assumption was shattered when the screaming began, waking him up from his room. He let loose a few curse words and padded down to the guest room, hands on his hips as he stared at the babies. “What?”

Mikasa was crying, and Eren slowly opened his eyes and sat up to stare at her, holding onto his stuffed lion closely. He sniffled, but didn’t cry and simply tried to roll over and go back to sleep. 

“Look what you did, you woke up your brother,” Levi tutted. He picked up the baby and went through the list. He tried to feed her, he changed her, and still the baby kept crying. 

Eventually, he had enough and went to pick up his phone, calling Hange. It was three in the morning but they did say to call anytime.

He put the phone on speaker and held it right up to the screaming Mikasa, so when Hange picked up, he heard them say, “What is — fuck! Ow!”

Levi growled into the phone, “How the hell do I make her stop? I tried everything!”

“Not hungry?”

“No.”

“You change her?”

“Yes.”

“Burp he—?”

“Yes, dammit!” He shouted. “Nothing worked!”

Hange was quiet, probably speaking to Moblit, before saying, “What about her scarf?”

“Her what?”

“It’s a scarf she uses as a blanket, it was in her car seat with her. She needs it to sleep, if she wakes up and it isn’t with her, she cries.”

“That’s fucking ridiculous,” Levi scoffed, walking back into the living room to look at their car seats. “How would she know the difference between the blanket I gave her and this one?” He pulled a few things back and found a red knitted scarf that was soft to the touch. 

“This can’t possibly—” As he placed the fabric in Mikasa’s hand, she stopped. Her tears slowed and she sniffled, pressing the scarf against her splotchy red face. “Well I’ll be damned.”

“Is she okay now?” Hange asked. 

“Yeah... guess it was the scarf.” Levi walked back to the guest room, where Eren had already fallen back asleep. He slowly put Mikasa back in the crib, waiting for her to start screaming again. Instead she just rolled onto her stomach and held the scarf closer, allowing Levi to pull a blanket over her and leave quietly. 

“You could’ve warned me, you know,” he hissed into the phone as soon as the door was closed. 

“Sorry, there was a lot happening, I forgot,” Hange said apologetically. “But they’ve been pretty good at sleeping through the night, now that minor speed bump is fixed, you should be fine for another few hours until they wake up for the morning.”

“They better be,” Levi grumbled. “Bye.”

“Sleep tight!”

He tossed the phone onto the other side of his bed and immediately fell back into a dreamless sleep. 

———

Three weeks passed. The babies were starting to grow on him. 

Petra, Farlan and Isabel seemed to be fawning over the babies and doing their work quicker so that they could get back to playing with the kids in between customers. Gunther, Eld and Oluo were pretended they also weren’t using every excuse to go sit next to the children as they did their work.

As long as they made sure to wash their hands and they got all their work done, he wasn’t going to complain. 

———

One month later, Eren got a cold. 

Levi hadn’t felt that icy fear grip him in a long time, not since his mother had gotten sick. 

Hange told him there was nothing to fear, kids get sick all the time, and he should only consider going to a doctor if it persisted any longer than a few days. 

He tried to keep Mikasa and Eren away from each other once Eren started showing signs that he was sick, but Eren would cry if he was left alone, which would then turn into coughing, which would make Mikasa cry because she was worried about Eren. 

Isabel eventually told him that since the babies shared a bed, if one of them was sick then if the other one would have caught it by now if they were going to catch it at all. That put him a bit more at ease; all three of them being able to stay together would be ideal. 

Those two days were the longest of his life. He put Petra in charge of the shop and stayed with Eren and Mikasa the whole time. Farlan would bring up food when they closed up for the night. (It was at this time Mikasa discovered that she loved oatmeal cookies; Levi was a bit proud, he always knew she had refined taste.) Otherwise, it was just him and the babies.

The first night, he kept the baby monitor on his bedside table. He heard Eren coughing so much that he went in to hold him. Eren seemed to be more at ease and even his symptoms would improve when he was warmer, especially when pressed up against some body heat.

He decided to take Eren into his room, hoping it would help Eren stay asleep, but when he turned to leave, he saw Mikasa, still sleeping easily, and he couldn’t find it in himself to leave her alone. What if she woke up in the middle of the night and got scared because Eren wasn’t there? It took some resolve, but eventually he picked her up and relocated both of the babies to his room. Mikasa woke up for only a second, looking at Levi with groggy eyes, before recognizing him and laying right back down. 

He put some pillows and blankets as barriers around the edges of the bed, just to make sure they couldn’t roll off. Then he put Eren on his chest and covered them both in the covers, hoping to keep Eren warm enough to fight the fever. Mikasa woke up just long enough to crawl over to him and rest her head on his arm, which he then used to pull her closer so she could snuggle into his side. 

When he woke up, he felt a lack of heat against his body. His eyes snapped open. Eren and Mikasa were gone. 

He threw the covers off and ran out of the room—

“Good morning, sleepy head,” Hange said teasingly. They had Eren and Mikasa sitting in their high chairs, feeding them cheerios. 

Levi let out a breath. “How did you even get them away from me?” He wasn’t going to bother asking when or how they got in; Hange has a key and lets themselves in whenever they think Levi needs help — apparently a sick baby was one of those times. 

“They were starting to wake up when I got here, and you were sleeping like a log, I figured I’d let you sleep in,” Hange said, putting apple juice in two sippy cups.

“Oh.” He paused. “Thanks.”

“I checked Eren’s fever, it’s gone way down, I’m sure he’ll be totally fine by tomorrow. Not sure what exactly you did last night, but it did the trick,” Hange assured him. “Isn’t that right, aren’t you feeling better?” They cooed to Eren, who smiled at them with a mouth full of cheerios. 

“Eren, don’t do that,” Levi tutted. 

“He’s a baby, Levi. They’re gonna do gross things,” Hange said with a snort. 

“Well they could at least _try_ not to.”

“I’m sure that their minds that haven’t even grasped sentences will be able to focus on cleanliness, you’re so right.” Hange rolled their eyes. They were quiet for a second, before asking, “ _Has_ Eren started talking yet?”

Levi shook his head. “Not yet. Maybe he’s just a late bloomer.”

“I’m sure he’ll start in the next few months,” Hange hummed. “My mom always said I was on the later end, I didn’t start talking until I was fourteen months.”

“Wow, and now we can’t get you to shut up. Hope Eren isn’t like that.”

Hange shoved him but laughed. Eren and Mikasa seemed to want in on the joke, so they giggled too. He smiled at them. It was nice.

———

Suddenly a few months had passed.

Mikasa was talking more, her favorite word being “no” at the moment, and Levi was starting to worry about the fact that Eren still hadn’t started talking yet — but one night before bed, he finally did. 

“Okay. Go to sleep now,” he said casually, looking at the two kids in the crib fondly. 

“Na-night!” Mikasa shouted at him, pulling her scarf closer to her face, simply holding it instead of wrapping it around her. 

“Good night, Mika. Good night, Eren.” He turned on the night light and turned off the overhead light— 

“Dada.”

He turned the light back on, staring at the babies in the crib. “What was that?”

Mikasa pointed. “Ewen!”

Said baby sat up, beaming. 

“Say it again,” Levi whispered, walking back to the bed. 

“Dada?” Eren said, holding his lion close. 

“Dada!” Mikasa agreed.

Levi laughed. It was an almost maddened sound. He couldn’t believe it. 

He wanted to tell Eren not to call him that — after all, he isn’t their father. 

But... wasn’t he? If he wasn’t, then what _was_ he? He took care of them, he’d been watching them and raising them nearly on his own for four months now. What else would he be to them?

Oh no. Dammit. 

Somehow he’s come to love the little brats. 

It wasn’t until a few weeks later, marking the five month anniversary since he took them in, when he called Hange. 

“What if, hypothetically, I wanted to turn this into a more... permanent situation?” He eventually managed to get out, trying to sound nonchalant. 

“Wait — seriously?” He could feel Hange’s joy growing the longer his words sunk in. 

“...Yeah.”

“AH!” Hange shouted. “This is amazing! Oh, I had hoped, but I never actually thought—”

“So are you going to answer my question?” Levi interrupted dryly. 

“So we haven’t had any luck finding any family still. Eren’s grandparents are dead, and it doesn’t seem like his parents had any surviving siblings. Legally we have to wait a year to officially mark them as orphaned in the eyes of the state and put them up for adoption—”

“Don’t put them up for adoption,” Levi said, probably too quickly. “They’re... I want them.”

“Okay. Well, in seven months then, we can draw up the paperwork. I can start working on it now so that when they’ve actually been with you a year, we can make it official.”

“Please do.”

“You don’t know how much of a relief this is — I was so worried we were going to have to separate them when we finally reached that point.”

“That isn’t happening. We — I mean, _they_ are staying together.”

“Right. _They_.” He could practically feel Hange’s smug smile through the phone. “We still have to keep looking for surviving family members but... your chances are looking good.”

Levi, incredibly selfishly, almost hoped they wouldn’t find anyone. 

———

It appeared his wish came true. They couldn’t find anyone. They had searched for a year, but they concluded that Eren and Mikasa had no family left — in the biological sense, that is. 

They were part of Levi’s family now. So when the paperwork was finally signed, a whole year after he had first met them, he had two kids — one of whom’s second birthday was coming up in a mere month. They had decided to combine Mikasa and Eren’s parties; Levi’s reasoning that it’s not like they would remember their second birthday anyway.

Unfortunately, he had no clue how to plan a child’s birthday party, but luckily Mikasa and Eren had about eight aunts and uncles (as well as Hange, who had become their pseudo second parent) who _did_ know, and did all the planning for him. 

“You idiot. You goddamn fool,” Farlan was saying to Gunther as he tried to feed Eren. “You can’t only invite adults to a kids party!”

“Who else do we invite?” Gunther countered. “It’s not like they have friends their own age, they’re two!”

“Bullshit!”

“Shit,” a small voice mimicked. 

Gunther and Farlan both looked at Eren with wide eyes as he slammed his open palms against his high chair. 

“Shit!” Eren said, giggling. 

“You’re so fucking dead,” Gunther cackled. 

“Vuck.”

“Great, now we’re both gonna get murdered. Way to go, Farlan.”

———

Eren and Mikasa’s birthday party was in a few days, and Levi still hadn’t managed to find any kids their age. 

Hange was starting to tell him that maybe he should send them to a daycare so they could socialize, but the thought of not having them with him every day made his heart clench painfully. 

How ironic that he was the one with separation anxiety and not them. Go figure. 

He was sitting in a booth of the shop during a lull with Eren and Mikasa, the two toddlers individually coloring a picture.

Suddenly, Levi felt a tug at his apron. He looked down to see a small blonde boy with wide blue eyes staring at him.

“Can I help you?” Levi asked, raising an eyebrow at the child, before Eren nudged him, asking his father to look at his picture.

“Armin, don’t run off — sorry, I was just looking at the menu and he got away from me,” a new voice said, appearing quickly. 

“Just wat— oh.” Levi looked away from Eren’s picture to stare at the new arrival. When the hell did Adonis walk into his shop? How long was he allowed to admire before it got weird? (He suspected he had already passed that threshold.)

The tall man picked up the boy. “Sorry. Hope he wasn’t bothering you.”

“Uh... no.” Levi cleared his throat. “No, he wasn’t a bother.”

The man flashed him a dazzling smile. “Are they yours?” He said, guesturing at the two toddlers in the booth. 

“Yeah. I’m Levi. Eren, Mikasa, say hello.”

“Hi!” Eren greeted cheerfully, while Mikasa waved shyly and went back to her coloring. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Erwin, this is Armin,” the man said, and the boy in his arms smiled bashfully. 

Levi could see the resemblance with ease. Golden blond hair and big blue eyes made it plain to see they were father and son. Armin’s hair was in desperate need of a trim, but Mikasa’s probably was too so he wasn’t going to comment on it. 

“She looks a lot like you,” Erwin said.

“I’ve heard that before. Believe it or not, we aren’t biologically related.”

Erwin arched an eyebrow. “Really? I never would’ve guessed.”

Levi shrugged. “Who knows, maybe we’re distant cousins or something.” Erwin laughed lightly, and Levi added, “I adopted them recently.”

“Congratulations! That’s incredible,” Erwin told him sincerely. 

“Thanks.” His gray eyes flickered to Armin. “Did you come up to ask something?” He asked as gently as he could. 

Armin hid his face in his father’s shoulder, who touched his stomach and encouraged him to answer. “Can I color pwease?” The boy nearly whispered. 

Levi slid out of the booth, patting where he just sat. “I’m sure Eren and Mikasa wouldn’t mind sharing, right?”

Mikasa shook her head and Eren quickly passed his coloring book over. Armin scrambled up onto the seat as Eren told him, in his stunted, childish way of speaking, “Y’can have any pi’ture you want — not tha’ one, the duckies are mine.”

Armin smiled and chose a picture, tearing it out with great care before Mikasa pushed some crayons towards him. “Fanks,” he said to Eren and Mikasa. 

“Wow, I’m impressed,” Erwin said, leaning towards Levi. “He isn’t usually this open to talking to people. He’s really shy.”

Levi nodded. “I know what you mean, Eren and Mikasa don’t have any friends their age.” Suddenly, the realization hit him like a slap in the face. “This is pretty fast, but would Armin want to come to their birthday party on Saturday?”

Erwin smiled. “Yeah! I think they’re getting along well.”

“You’re invited too, of course.” Levi paused. “Should I... be expecting anyone else to come with you?”

“Ah, no, it’s just Armin and me,” Erwin said, a pink tinge appearing on his cheeks. 

“Well, we look forward to it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Erwin stood there for a second, before pointing to the counter. “Can I...?”

“Oh!” Levi flushed. Of course they came in here for a reason. “Yeah, my bad.”

“No worries.”

Petra came out from the back room, saying, “Levi, are we—” She stopped to stare at Erwin and Levi. Levi slid away from the taller man, rushing to get behind the counter. “Oh, hello.”

Erwin ordered some coffee and a cupcake for Armin, then went back over to the kids while Levi was putting it together. 

Petra came up to him. “Oh my God, he’s _so_ into you,” she whispered excitedly. 

“ _Tch_. Please.”

“Don’t _tch_ me! I’m serious.”

Levi narrowed his eyes at her. She narrowed hers back. 

“Don’t you dare—”

“ _Tch_.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Petra rolled her eyes. “Fine, I love you. But you’re annoying as hell.”

“Aw, you love me? That’s embarrassing,” Levi said with a smirk. 

“Shut up and go _love_ up on that fine piece of man meat over there,” Petra commanded, shoving him back to the booth with Erwin’s order. 

Levi glared at her, then gave Erwin his drink, placing the cupcake in front of Armin. Levi looked back at Petra, who was making a bunch of wild hand gestures, most of which could be interpreted sexually. Eventually, he got the message: sit down. 

Levi slid into the booth beside Erwin, who was rapt in conversation with Eren. 

“What are you two talking about?” Levi asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Oh, Eren just told me about a new word he learned,” Erwin told him with a nervous smile. 

“Shit!” Eren declared to his father. 

Levi frowned. “Who taught you that?” His eyes flickered to Erwin, who held up his hands as if to prove his innocence.

“Far’an,” Eren said, going back to his coloring. “He said not t’tell you.”

“I can’t believe I have to kill a minor,” Levi growled. 

“This Farlan, I’m assuming?” Erwin asked. 

“One of the kids that works here.”

Erwin laughed, and when Armin had finished his cupcake and seemingly also finished his coloring, he stood up. Levi noticed that Erwin had set out napkins in front of Armin and it caught all the crumbs. A man after his heart. 

“Come on, Arm, we gotta get going.” 

“B-but dad!” Armin pleaded, his eyes wide, looking to his new friends. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll see them again. We’re coming back on Saturday for their birthday,” Erwin soothed. 

“But that’s fowever away!” Eren whined.

“Eren, behave,” Levi told him firmly. Eren pouted but turned back to his crayons.

“So, we’ll see you here on Saturday afternoon?” Erwin said to Levi. “Can I get your number? In case we get caught up.”

“Uh — yeah.”

He quickly typed his number in Erwin’s phone, before Erwin picked up Armin, who didn’t fight it but still looked grumpy at being torn away from his new friends.

Right as Erwin turned away, Mikasa said, “Mister?”

“Yes?” Erwin replied with a smile. 

“I made this for you,” she said quietly, handing over her drawing. 

On it were five stick figures, three smaller ones, a medium-sized one, and a big one. They all wore crudely drawn smiley faces. 

“Das me, Eren and Armin,” she explained, pointing to the three smaller stick figures, two with dark hair and one with yellow. “Dat one’s daddy, and das you.” She pointed to the medium and large stick figures, who looked to be holding hands. 

Levi flushed, but Erwin just smiled. “Thank you, Mikasa. It’s beautiful. And you would let me keep it?”

She nodded, and he carefully folded it up and put it in his pocket. Erwin turned to look at Levi, his eyes shining. “See you all in a few days.”

“Bye, Armin!” Eren shouted, waving wildly. 

Armin smiled brightly and waved back as he and his father walked out the door. 

Levi stared at Mikasa, who had already started drawing a picture of a dog. He cleared his throat. “So. That was very nice of you to give Armin’s dad a gift. What made you want to make it for him?”

“Cebause you _wiiiiiike_ him,” Mikasa sang, smirking in a way that Levi immediately knew she picked up from Hange. 

Eren giggled. “Daddy has a cwush!”

“I — I do not!” Levi argued, his face flushing red all the way to his ears. 

“Ooooh, daddy has a crush!” Petra shouted from where she had been eavesdropping at the counter. 

Eren stood on the chair, Mikasa mimicking his action as she swung her scarf around, both of them chanting, “Daddy has a crush!”

Petra, ever the petulant child, chimed in with their cheering, even as she wiped down the counter. 

“You know what? It’s bedtime,” Levi grumbled, grabbing a child under each arm and holding them by the waist. 

“But the sun still out!” Eren whined. 

“That’s what you get for chanting,” Levi told him firmly. 

“But daddy you _do_ have a cwush!”

“Who does daddy have a crush on?” Farlan’s voice asked from the door, his school bag slung over his shoulder lazily. He took a moment to examine Levi’s pose, a child held sideways on either side of him. 

“Farlan,” Levi barked, narrowing his eyes. “You’re on my list!”

“What?” Farlan asked, a hand on his chest as he feigned innocence. “What do you think I did?”

“Shit!” Eren shouted, his hair falling in his face from how Levi was holding him. 

Farlan’s smug grin fell. “Oh. Okay, I did do that. But Gunther taught him the word fuck, which is way worse!”

“Gunther did _WHAT_?”

  
  



End file.
